The field of the present invention relates to devices for sealing gaps between pickup truck tailgates and the body of the pickup truck.
In today""s world, pickup trucks are becoming ever more popular as people with a variety of interests find them both versatile and convenient for the many activities in which they may participate. The trucks have a cargo carrying capacity which is good for many purposes and the trucks may go virtually anywhere whether the roadway is paved or not. This convenience and versatility has made pickup trucks a popular component of modern living.
The cargo box of modern pickup trucks is often equipped with a tonneau cover or a topper which are secured to the cargo box. Modem tonneau covers and toppers enclose the cargo box so that rain and snow do not fall into the truck bed. Even when truck beds are covered, however, dust from paved and un-paved roads often finds its way into the cargo box through either gaps between the tailgate and the end of the bottom of the truck bed or between the tailgate and the respective side panels of the cargo box. These gaps are generally present in virtually all pickup trucks.
In order to close these gaps to reduce the flow of air which may carry dust or unwanted moisture into the cargo box, tailgate sealing gaskets have been created to fill gaps between the tailgate and the respective side walls and the tailgate and the end of the bottom of the truck bed. These sealing gaskets have taken many different forms, and are made of many different materials but over time they deform and become brittle so that they must be replaced. The most common gasket is a simple elongated tube-like gasket. This type of gasket is generally secured to at the pickup truck on one side. When the tail gate is closed, however, it flattens out without support. Other sealing gaskets are configured in a way which only allows them to accommodate certain predictable gaps that may be envisioned by the maker, but not others. Because these gaskets are only configured to fill gaps in only a certain way, they do not generally meet all needs for all truck body types. Yet others are solid gaskets without any lumen to provide give. It will be appreciated that it would be advantageous to provide a sealing gasket which will adequately fill the gaps between the tailgate and the respect side panels and the surface of the truck bed, especially one which would fill such gaps for a wide variety of truck body types having different configurations.
Accordingly, it will be appreciated that there is a continuing need for new and improved tailgate sealing gaskets that will benefit owners of pickup trucks by providing a gasket which will provide a better seal for closing gaps between the tailgate and the truck body. The present invention provides advantages over the prior devices and the prior methods used to close such gaps, and also offers other advantages over the prior art and solves other problems associated therewith.
A tailgate seal or sealing gasket is provided which is designed to be used to seal gaps between a pickup truck tailgate and side panels of a pickup truck cargo box and between the tailgate and the end of the bottom surface of the truck bed of the cargo box. This sealing gasket has a shape which allows it to be especially versatile in that it can be used to fill gaps having numerous configuration and can be oriented in many ways to fill such gaps. The present tailgate seal includes an elongated member made of a deformable and at least somewhat resilient polymeric material. The elongated member defines a first lumen passing through at least a first length of the elongated member. The elongated member has a first undeformed configuration in which a first cross-section of the elongated member, which extends through the elongated member perpendicular to the first length, has two portions, a first portion shaped generally like a triangle having two converging sides of equal length and a second portion shaped generally like a semi-circle; the elongated member having a plurality of outer surfaces, the first outer surface being a generally curved surface located at a first end of the first cross section, and the second and third outer surfaces being generally flat surfaces which extend away from the first end towards a second end of the first cross section. The first outer surface is curved toward and preferably joins with the second and third outer surfaces, respectively, at opposite ends of the first surface. The second and third outer surfaces generally converge toward one another as they extend away from the first outer surface, such that they come closer together so that the first cross section is smaller in width at the second end than it is at the junction between the first outer surface and the second and third outer surfaces. In preferred embodiments, the first lumen is defined by a generally curved inner surface and the elongated member defines a second lumen passing through at least the first length of the elongated member. The second lumen is preferably defined by three inner surfaces, a generally arcuate inner surface and two generally flat inner surfaces which converge together as they extend away from the generally arcuate inner surface. Structurally, the generally arcuate inner surface need not be arcuate and could, just as practically be a flat surface or an arcuate surface, whether convex or concave in orientation. Similarly, the generally flat inner surfaces can be somewhat curved. The elongated member is preferably deformable so that the first configuration can be deformed such that the first lumen will have a different cross-sectional shape than that of the first lumen in the first configuration. In preferred embodiments, the polymeric material is preferably an extruded polymeric closed cell sponge material containing microscopic pockets preferably containing a gas such as air or the like. Preferably, the elongated member further includes an adhesive strip along a generally flat outer surface, either the second and third outer surface. The adhesive strip provides a sealant for preferred sealing gaskets which is used to secure the sealing gasket to the pickup truck. In certain embodiments, the adhesive strip extends from one side of the flat outer surface alternately up to a junction between the flat outer surface and the first outer surface which is a curved surface. In preferred embodiments, this strip will end just short of this junction (see FIG. 3), and in more preferred embodiments, this strip will end well before this junction (see FIG. 8) so that the rounded end of the gasket can be extended well beyond the edge of any surface on the pickup truck to which it is attached. Other embodiments of the present invention provide a combination pickup truck and sealing gasket, the sealing gasket being the same as that described herein above in this paragraph.
The present tailgate sealing gasket is preferably made of a closed cell sponge material made from natural rubber, Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR), Nitrile, Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) copolymers, Neoprene(, Silicone or the like; most preferably EPDM copolymers.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention provide significant advantages over prior art. The adhesive strip on the generally flat outer surface of the gasket provides a convenient mechanism for sealing the gasket to various surfaces on the truck so that the first lumen which is preferably greater in cross-sectional width than the second lumen can be placed advantageously to close gaps between the various parts of the truck and the tailgate. As shown in the drawings, this can be done in a number of ways to take advantage of the shape of the gasket. Because the gasket is made of a resilient closed cell sponge material, the tailgate can be opened and closed many times before the gasket begins to keep the shape it has when the gasket is deformed and the tailgate is closed. In any case, it will continue to fill the gap between the tailgate and the various parts of the truck body and prevent dust and other particles from entering the truck bed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tailgate sealing gasket which is superior to other gaskets because of its versatility. The present tailgate gasket may be sealed to the truck in one of several orientations which provides a functional seal of the gaps between the tailgate and various parts of the truck body.
It is another object of preferred embodiments of the present invention to provide an adhesive strip which is easily applied to the truck, thereby providing convenience for the user.
Still further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.
These and various other advantages and features of novelty that characterize the present invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto informing a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the present invention, its advantages and other objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings, which form a further part hereof and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there is illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the present invention.